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Thursday, April 21, 2011

Marisa Moreno's parents came to The United States to make a better life for themselves. So, why won't they let her do the same? Sure, they want her to graduate from high school, but only if it doesn't interfere with cooking meals for her gruff Papi, babysitting her niece, or working enough hours at Kroger to help pay the family's bills. Marisa knows her duties to la familia come first, but she also knows she's smart enough to really make something of herself. Marisa's parents want her to stay in the barrio, marry a neighborhood boy, have babies, and work at some dead-end job like a good little Mexican girl. Marisa wants more. So much more.

When Marisa's favorite teacher urges her to apply to a competitve engineering program at the University of Texas, Marisa longs to do it. But just the thought of fleeing Houston fills her with paralyzing guilt. How will her Mami and Papi afford rent without Marisa's paycheck? Who will cook Papi's meals? If Tia Marisa isn't around, who will watch little Anita, soothe her when her parents fight, keep her safe from her drug-dealing father's vicious temper? And what of sweet, gorgeous Alan Peralta, who's finally showing some interest in her? Can she leave all of it behind? Just for some fancy science program? As much as Marisa wants to follow her own dreams, she knows it's impossible.

As things at home become more and more impossible, Marisa faces the most difficult choice of her life: Does she give up on her own future to make everyone else happy, like she's always done in the past? Or does she fight for her dreams, no matter what the cost? Trapped by all that's expected of her, Marisa will be forced to choose between tradition and progress, cultural expectations and personal ambition, familial obligations and her own fulfillment. Can she find a way to make her dreams come true without losing everything in the process? Or is she doomed to eke out a hard scrabble life in a cockroach-infested tenement building, just like her parents?

What Can't Wait, a debut novel by Texas native Ashley Hope Perez, is an immigrant story with bite. It's familiar, touching on all the usual conflicts, but surprising in its unflinching honesty. I found the novel both compelling and affecting, even though I would have liked a whole lot more originality from it. Still, it's refreshing to see modern Mexican-American culture being explored in teen lit, especially when it comes from a writer like Perez, who uses her own experience to make her story realistic, relevant and, most of all, relatable to readers of every background. While What Can't Wait didn't blow me away, it has placed Perez firmly on my radar. You better believe I'll be keeping my eye on this intriguing literary lady.

(Readalikes: I guess I don't read many stories about Mexican-American teenagers. Any ideas here?)

Grade: B-

If this were a movie, it would be rated:R for strong language, sexual content and depictions of underrage partying/drinking and illegal drug use

To the FTC, with love: I received a finished copy of What Can't Wait from the generous folks at Carolrhoda LAB. Thank you!

My mountain of review books grows daily. To see a list of those currently in my possession (physical copies only—e-copies are not listed), click here.

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Black Souls by Nicole Castroman

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The Orphan's Tale by Pam Jenoff

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Bookin' Around the States

- Alabama

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13 / 50 states. 26% done!

2017 Modern Mrs. Darcy Reading Challenge

1. A book you choose for the cover—The Secret Ingredient of Wishes by Susan Bishop Crispell2. A book with a reputation for being un-put-down-able—The Missing Hours by Emma Kavanagh3. A book set somewhere you've never been, but would like to visit - The Beautiful Mystery by Louise Penny4. A book you've already read—Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling5. A juicy memoir—My Story by Elizabeth Smart6. A book about books or reading —The Bookshop on the Corner by Jenny Colgan7. A book in a genre you usually avoid—Maus by Art Spiegelman8. A book you don't want to admit you're dying to read—Talking As Fast As I Can by Lauren Graham9. A book you were excited to buy or borrow but haven't read yet—The Worst Hard Time by Timothy Egan10. A book about a topic or subject you already love—Trials of the Earth by Mary Mann Hamilton

My Progress:

0 / 10 books. 0% done!

2017 Dystopia Reading Challenge

1. Ready Player One by Ernest Cline2. Wool by Hugh Howey3. The Heart Goes Last by Margaret Atwood4. Tomorrow, When the War Began by John Marsden5. One Second After by William R. Forstchen6. Across the Universe by Beth Revis7. Awaken by Katie Kacvinsky8. Born by Tara Brown9. An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir10. Red Rising by Pierce Brown11. Consider by Kristy Acevedo12. Bluescreen by Dan Wells13. Starflight by Melissa Landers14. Frost by M.P. Kozlowsky15. Vicarious by Paula Stokes16. Replica by Lauren Oliver